ROY HODGSON’S problems as England fly out to Poland for Euro 2012 have intensified after it emerged Kick It Out, English football’s leading anti-racism organisation, is considering putting together a robust response condemning his handling of the Rio Ferdinand affair.
Hodgson’s explanation that he has left out Ferdinand purely on “football grounds” and that it had nothing to with John Terry’s forthcoming court case has dismayed Kick It Out to the point it is holding talks behind the scenes to decide whether to go public with its grievances.
The most likely conclusion is that it will express its feelings at the end of the tournament, when it will make it clear it believes Ferdinand has lost out through internal politics and that it was morally wrong for him to be excluded if, as strongly suspected by some, it is because Terry is charged with allegedly racially abusing Anton Ferdinand during Chelsea’s game at Queens Park Rangers in October. Terry denies the charge.
In particular, it is aggrieved that Hodgson did not try to co-ordinate a meeting with the two players to determine whether it was possible for them to establish a working relationship during the tournament. Instead, Hodgson appears to have made a straight choice between Terry and Ferdinand and failed to bring in the Manchester United player even after Terry’s Chelsea team-mate Gary Cahill was ruled out with a broken jaw.
Ferdinand’s adviser, Jamie Moralee, has since described it as “nothing short of disgraceful”, linking it directly to the Terry case, and Hodgson will fly into Krakow today knowing that the controversy is threatening to overshadow his preparations for the game against France in Donetsk on Monday.
Hodgson is expected to stick to his line that it was a football decision when he speaks to the media for the first time tomorrow since deciding Martin Kelly, Liverpool’s second-choice right back, would be a better replacement for Ferdinand after the confirmation of Cahill’s injury. Terry was still nursing a slight hamstring worry as the players had their last training session at London Colney yesterday.
The choice of Kelly ahead of Ferdinand has caused widespread surprise. The former Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler wrote in a column for the bookmaker Paddy Power: “There’s not a chance Rio Ferdinand was left out of the England squad for ‘footballing reasons’. Not a chance. The public knows that too.”
Harry Redknapp, the Tottenham manager, is of similar mind. “I think it’s a difficult decision for him,” he said. “There’s obviously more to it. If it’s just football, it’s difficult to leave Rio out, because he’s a fantastic player still.”
Hodgson’s choice was greeted with bemusement by several Netherlands players yesterday. Tottenham’s Rafael van der Vaart described the omission of Ferdinand as “strange”, adding: “It surprised me because I think he’s still one of the best defenders in England, and maybe in the world. He’s a little bit older now but he’s still fit and fresh.”
Others have leapt to the England manager’s defence. Sven-Goran Eriksson has suggested that he has the inside line on why his friend Hodgson left out Ferdinand and said it has nothing to do with race rows and everything to do with the United defender’s form and fitness.
“We mustn’t forget that Rio has suffered from injuries this season,” said Eriksson, the former England manager, in his column in the Swedish newspaper Expressen. “Many try to connect the dots between the race allegations against John Terry and Roy leaving Ferdinand out. I know there is no truth in these claims. How? You’re just going to have to trust me. With less than a week to go, Roy wanted the player joining the squad to be match fit. Someone who has carried on with his training after the end of league play.”
Guardian Service
